Belcar 2007 Becoming Clearer
Next year’s Belcar Championship will be organized by SRO,
but with a Belgian flavour – writes Joost Custers.
The classes
are as we announced last month (here
- on November 16) on dailysportscar: Belcar
GT3, Belcar Specials and Belcar
Promotion. The Belcar Specials will remain for at least
two more years and the Belcar Promotion Class even longer. GT4
will arrive in 2008.
Belcar
Specials: GTs allowed in Belcar and BTCS in 2006 and earlier,
with a maximum engine capacity of 5.0 litres for normal aspirated
cars or 2.5 litres for turbo (and other) engines. The minimum weight
for the Specials is 1100 kg for over 3.6 l cars, and 1000 kg for
under 3.6 litre cars. The Porsche 996 GT2 Biturbo will also be part
of the Belcar Specials, with a minimum weight of 1180 kg and most
probably other technical limitations.
Belcar
Group GT3: This class only contains the FIA GT3 cars, and
should become the primary class of Belcar in the future. The Belgian
GT3s get free tyre choice and a larger tank capacity. In this spirit,
the Zolder 24 hours should become a major event for GT3s from all
over Europe.
Belcar
Promotion: Cup cars not fitting in FIA GT3, such as 996
GT3 Supercup, Lotus Elise, etc.
Silhouettes and Touring Cars will be seen in the
Zolder 24 Hours only, but this issue is somewhat contentious as
the Renault Mégane, in particular, could be a real threat
for overall victory.
Circuit Zolder, RACB and SRO all have their separate
influences on the series from now onwards, which should ensure that
the special character of Belcar remains. The Belcar brand remains
the property of Circuit Zolder and they could resume on their own
in the future if things 'go wrong'.
The technical
rule book will follow this week (and an English version somewhat
later), but there will be a balance of performance between Specials
and GT3s.
In my humble opinion, the Specials are still in
favour owing to proven reliability. Actually, a grid of 40 cars
or more is realistic, with 10 to 15 GT3s, 15 Specials and 10 Promotion
cars. The BMW M3 GTR V8 and the Z3 are welcome in the Belcar Special
class.
Nothing will change regarding the format of the
races, with six 125-minute rounds and the Zolder 24 Hours.
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